Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Redding visits Bald Eagle schools for Ag Literacy Week

What is agriculture? Well, if you ask Jalynn Woleslagle’s kindergarten class at Howard Elementary you’d hear students shout watermelon, chickens, corn, seeds, tractors and more.

At the root of it, food. That was the point Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding was trying to communicate to students at Howard Elementary during his visit Tuesday for the sixth annual Ag Literacy Week.

“The point is connecting what they’re eating in the cafeteria to what they see in the garden,” Redding said.

This is the first time in nearly two years Redding has been able to visit schools for Ag Literacy Week, and the first time it’s included a kindergarten class, usually focusing on grades three and four.

Redding visited the kindergarten, first and second-grade classrooms at the school, where he read them the book “Anywhere Farm” by Phyllis Root and helped students plant kidney and lima beans. The seeds will germinate in the classroom windowsill until they sprout, then students can take them home to plant in their own gardens.

Redding’s focus was on having students understand the sustainability and preservation of farming and how anyone can start their own garden.

“In the class you may only have one or two kids with a direct connection to a farm but everyone can learn about where their food comes from,” Redding said.

Although not familiar with the term, many students were familiar with agriculture, either through family gardens at home or through the kindergarten class’s current project hatching chickens. The chickens in Woleslagle’s kindergarten class are set to hatch any day now and will be raised and processed by the high school as part of its agriculture program.

“Farming is a big part of a lot of these kids’ lives, living in a rural area so they are in tune with that,” first grade teacher Kayla Crestani said.

Crestani said her class was thrilled to have Redding visit and recently completed a unit about apple trees and is exploring the life cycle of a pumpkin, growing one in the windowsill of the classroom.

Redding also spoke about the importance of pollinators with the classes, convincing several bee shy students how they help plants grow.

“Every third bite you eat, you should thank a bee,” Redding said to the kindergarten class.

Bald Eagle Area School District is part of the Farm to School grant program and received $6,515 in grants from the state to expand its hydroponic program and curriculum. Redding traveled to Bald Eagle High School after visiting Howard Elementary to view the high school’s hydroponic garden and speak with students and teachers involved.

“Every meal is tied to agriculture, even if we don’t often think of it, but every banana, every cereal, it’s all tied to agriculture,” Redding said.